The present invention relates to a microwave oven, more particularly, to a slipping connector installed to the oven ceiling that supports the food temperature sensing probe of a microwave oven incorporating a turntable.
To uniformly heat food, there is an apparatus called a "meat probe microwave oven", which uses a turntable in the cooking chamber and detects temperature of the food during cooking via a temperature sensing probe in contact with food so that the heating can be controlled in response to the temperature detected.
Such a microwave oven makes the temperature sensing probe in contact with the food rotate together with the turntable, while the output terminal of the temperature sensing probe is connected to the slipping connector that is secured to the ceiling of the microwave oven, and as a result, the food temperature is detected during cooking by the electrically connected slipping connector and control circuit of the microwave oven unit.
However, in the conventional slipping connectors, for example, in the prior art such as disclosed by the U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,056 "MICROWAVE OVEN WITH FOOD TEMPERATURE MEANS", the contact point between the mobile and stationary contacts of the slipping connector is exposed to the surrounding atmosphere of the oven containing oil and impurities inside the microwave oven, and so if the microwave oven is used for a long time, the contacts of both the mobile and stationary contact devices are contaminated or stained by oil and impurities which arise from the food being cooked. In other words, contact resistance between the mobile and stationary contacts eventually increases after the temperature sensing probe is used for a long time, thus causing the contacts to malfunction and so the food temperature is not detected at all during cooking.